Volunteer Work Abroad

[John Hops]

Has anyone done any volunteer work abroad for a reasonably long period of time (a month or over?)?

If so, where did you go, and what did you think of the experience?

If not, do you plan on it?

And do you think (or know?) that such an experience is beneficial to admission (moreso than just general hospital volunteer work or shadowing, or about as beneficial or less beneficial?)

Interested to hear your thoughts.

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[paranoid_eyes]

im doing it this summer, because i think it will be very beneficial when it comes time to apply. Many others who have gone through the application process have told me this as well.

 

[Dr. Geoff]

I have, it was the best experience of my life. I was living in a small village, no water/electricity, in Kenya. I had elephants at my house and could see Mt. Killiminjaro from my porch. I learned Swahili and was a teacher at a small secondary school teaching Bio/Chem. Best part about it was all the people/friends you make. I didn't want to leave... But, if you go volunteer abroad, make sure you really want to do it and go for a while! People that go for 2-3 weeks are just on vacation for a while. If you really wanna experience another place and really volunteer you need to live there for a bit. It took me a good 6 months before I even knew how anything worked...

jeff

 

[tf2medic]

I have... and it was a great experience. But even a month is not a long time. People that go to 3rd world countries for 2-3 weeks to "volunteer," are taking a long vacation, thats it.

yep, pretty much. i went and studied abroad in morocco last summer for 2 months. i didn't go to volunteer tho...i went to study abroad. and i can tell you the middle east doesn't really know what volunteering is . idk, it isnt really included in admissions so no one does it. everything is based on one test score at the end of high school. pretty redic...ive been all over the middle east too and it only gets worse in terms of volunteering haha. morocco is considered the most modern, western middle eastern country, too, and they just don't really include volunteering in their schedules. it's a different lifestyle, tho, different system...etc.

everyone i know who did real volunteering overseas wasn't actually TOO "overseas." most did work in Guatamala thru their church and practiced their spanish at the sametime.

 

[SmokeyJoe]

I went to Costa Rica for three months last fall, and it was the most amazing experience of my life. If you have the time and the money to volunteer abroad, you have to go.

I went through Global Crossroad (http://www.globalcrossroad.com/), which was a great program. The price was good for what you get and you can sign up to get a medical volunteer placement. I worked in an ambulance and a nursing home. And on the weekends we got to travel.

I think it was definitely helpful in gaining my admissions. I had something interesting and memorable to talk about at interviews and, if nothing else, it proves you can relate to and work with people from different cultures.

 

[kami333]

yep, pretty much. i went and studied abroad in morocco last summer for 2 months. i didn't go to volunteer tho...i went to study abroad. and i can tell you the middle east doesn't really know what volunteering is . idk, it isnt really included in admissions so no one does it. everything is based on one test score at the end of high school. pretty redic...ive been all over the middle east too and it only gets worse in terms of volunteering haha. morocco is considered the most modern, western middle eastern country, too, and they just don't really include volunteering in their schedules. it's a different lifestyle, tho, different system...etc.

everyone i know who did real volunteering overseas wasn't actually TOO "overseas." most did work in Guatamala thru their church and practiced their spanish at the sametime.

That's how it works in most other countries, either based on performance in high school (Europe) or based on performance on a test (Asia). The US system of having to apply after undergrad and the emphasis on ECs is the minority (US, Canada).

I think the thing you need to keep in mind is that "volunteering" is sort of a luxury that not everyone can afford to do. If you are working 10hrs a day and barely feeding you family, it doesn't really make sense to spend time and energy working for free, your time would be better spent working to get paid.

Also volunteering just to help others is a very Western/Judeo-Christian concept that not everyone in the world shares. Of course helping your neighbors is a vital concept in every society but to go outside that is something that is not done in many cultures.

Sometimes I wonder if medical schools over-emphasize the importance of volunteering in the process of becoming a doctor, I haven't seen any studies that show that doctors volunteer proportionally more than the rest of the working population.

 

[WildlifeSaver]

Has anyone heard or have done a position with Projects Aboard doing anything? I got a packet the other day b/c I want to go somewhere in my life and experience something and see how others in this world really live. I will be honest with you I am not doing it b/c it looks good on an app, well in fact I was thinking about the peace corps, but that is a 2 year thing and I decided I want to go to school more then do that now, so I am looking into anything internship like or a real good experience, who has done what and please share. Thanks

 

[Dr. Geoff]

Hey, here's my advice, don't think about doing Peace Corps... do it. You won't regret it. And two years will fly bye, I can promise you that. Its great.

 

[John Hops]

Glad to hear that it's worth *something*, since I want to do it extremely badly and plan on doing it this summer in fact. There is a part of me that gets nervous about making any large time commitment that doesn't in some way go towards Medical School these days.

I have no doubt that an experience abroad will be exceptional and while I will only be there for 3 months a big part of me wants to go for much, much longer. Alas, I have to return come the end of summer to finish my apps and do interviews (plus I'm not made of money -- volunteering is expensive! I will be paying just over 2,000 for three months volunteering in Ecuador!)

 

[John Hops]

If anyone has any advice on a program or project to go abroad anywhere (though a spanish speaking country would be ideal, given my background) for a fairly large chunk of time (a semester or over) please do post something here in this thread, including if it is not related to medical/pre-medical experience. It is looking like I will have a large chunk of time after interviews that I can spend abroad doing volunteer work abroad.

That "medical app" anxiety will be gone as well, so something not medically-related would be welcome (and perhaps preferred).

I'm sure I'm not the only one in this situation, so if you've heard of or experienced anything like this, share the wealth!

 

[NShaggoona]

I went to Costa Rica for three months last fall, and it was the most amazing experience of my life. If you have the time and the money to volunteer abroad, you have to go.

I went through Global Crossroad , which was a great program. The price was good for what you get and you can sign up to get a medical volunteer placement. I worked in an ambulance and a nursing home. And on the weekends we got to travel.

I think it was definitely helpful in gaining my admissions. I had something interesting and memorable to talk about at interviews and, if nothing else, it proves you can relate to and work with people from different cultures.

Hello SmokeyJoe,

Wondering what the price details were for you to work in Costa Rica, and if you had an ambulance service previously before going abroad. I just finished undergrad and am working as an EMT-B currently. I am ultimately trying to find some position that will help to finance my living situation while abroad, although I recognize that is difficult to come by.

Did you look at any other programs before choosing, and what made you pick this one?

Thanks for your help!

Best,

 

[de Ribas]

Hello SmokeyJoe,

Wondering what the price details were for you to work in Costa Rica, and if you had an ambulance service previously before going abroad. I just finished undergrad and am working as an EMT-B currently. I am ultimately trying to find some position that will help to finance my living situation while abroad, although I recognize that is difficult to come by.

Did you look at any other programs before choosing, and what made you pick this one?

Thanks for your help!

Best,

and another 9-year old thread is bumped.

 

[de Ribas]

Hello SmokeyJoe,

Wondering what the price details were for you to work in Costa Rica, and if you had an ambulance service previously before going abroad. I just finished undergrad and am working as an EMT-B currently. I am ultimately trying to find some position that will help to finance my living situation while abroad, although I recognize that is difficult to come by.

Did you look at any other programs before choosing, and what made you pick this one?

Thanks for your help!

Best,

He was last seen here in 2008

 

[Planes2Doc]

im doing it this summer, because i think it will be very beneficial when it comes time to apply. Many others who have gone through the application process have told me this as well.

I realize this person hasn't posted since 2008, but I wanted to point out how much times have changed then! I even wrote a thread about this topic a few years ago around the time of Kony 2012 (if anyone still remembers what that is), and can only imagine how it looks now compared to 2013.